Warnings: Some violence. Not very graphic, yet. Some blood later on, a lot more in coming chaps. Some coarse language, in English. Maybe more.
Disclaimer: This is sooo depressing. I don't own it at all- at all, got it?
Rating: PG-13. Soon to go up, even if I do say so myself.
Pairings: It's pretty obvious by now just who is the main pairing. As for the others, well, we'll see.
Author's notes: Oh. *wipes away tear * Someone likes my fic? Thank you for reviewing guys, you're great!! I won't post your reviews if you don't want me to, but I'd like to at least post your names so you know that I appreciated them.
Shinigami's Voice- Wow thanks! I had no idea anyone would actually like this, really. Again, thanks.
Mischievous Sprite- *Smirk * you guys are so cool.
-Okay, last note I promise. I tried to get this up as fast as possible, but two hands can only do so much, so enjoy!
If One Goes, then Two Must Follow.
Heero's face appeared on the visual in the cockpit of the Gundam known as DeathScythe, and Duo grinned.
"What's up, 'ro?" Heero gritted his teeth, trying to keep from shooting the other Gundam into the sky. Wing-O was stopped a mere ten yards away, both standing in a large clearing surrounded by pine trees. Their Base was not far away, and Heero wanted to talk to Duo before they were in the company of the other Pilots.
"You know I hate that name," he growled. Duo put on the most innocent face he could, going wide-eyed and totally flabbergasted.
"You do? But it was such a cute one!" he protested, pretending to be hurt. Heero dragged one hand down his face in a rare show of irritation, and then groaned as Duo began talking again. If he didn't shut him up now, then the violet-eyed Pilot wouldn't make it back to Base. "I mean everyone needs a nickname! Besides, none of us even have real names. We were all given ours by other people, and a nickname between us Pilots is like an affection or something. You should be proud of such a good one. No one would have guessed that Ro was really short for Heero. It just doesn't click-" He stopped speaking abruptly as Wing-O started moving, and cursed under his breath. He had meant to get Heero talking, even if cursing and trading insults was the only way. He hadn't even realized when the visual turned off. Damn, he had it bad. Heero was currently walking towards the Base, and he quickly moved his own Gundam to follow a short distance behind. It didn't even matter, now, that he had to go back to Base. He followed Heero because he was, well, Heero, and not because he was going to the Base. He winced at the dim realization, knowing it was crystal clear. 'Heero's gonna kill me.'
"I'm sorry." Duo nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of the voice on the other end of the connection. For once in his life he didn't know what to say. Heero was apologizing?! Had Duo accidentally injected his fellow Pilot with something other than the intended anesthesia? His wild thoughts were interrupted once again by that calm, though somewhat hesitant voice. "I never thanked you for dressing my shoulder last night." Duo practically forgot to steer around a tree, he was in so much shock. He nonetheless finally managed to squeak out a reply.
"Uh, no problem Heero," he said weakly, completely forgetting the nickname. Unknown to the Shinigami, Heero smiled.
'Mission accomplished. Objective one; Duo forgot the nickname. Objective two; Duo finally shut up.' He stopped thinking of his success as the Base compound loomed down at them suddenly, out of nowhere it seemed. Heero looked over at DeathScythe, opening the communication between them again.
"Don't forget to come by my room. Doctor J must have a report from you also." Duo's voice sounded stable as it answered, strangely reassuring to the slightly older Pilot.
"Yeah, yeah. Just let me park this baby." Duo cut off the channel and then concentrated on fitting his DeathScythe into the large barn, built especially and solely for the five Gundams. The house, a short distance away, was quite large also, and built for the Pilots to have a safe haven while waiting for their respective missions. Wing-O came in right behind him, powering down in its numerical place. Heero, however, was out of his Gundam and on the ground before Duo, walking quickly towards the house. Duo caught up with him at the door, his breath steaming in the chill autumn air as Heero rang the bell. If they had just walked in, or knocked, they would have been shot by at least three surveillance guns, armed with special heat and motion detectors. There were some muffled thuds from inside, and then Quatre opened the door, looking a bit harried with his wild hair and tousled clothing of jeans and a white t-shirt. He grinned though when he saw Duo and Heero, ushering them into the house.
"Hey, Quat. What's up here?" Duo ducked as a sword being swung back nearly spliced his head. "Whoa, watch it Wufei! That thing's sharp!" Wufei paid his frantic words no heed, his attention focused on the long-banged boy in front of him, who was now on his guard and running up a pair of stairs to the second level. Trowa wasn't a coward, but he wasn't armed, either. Wufei ran after him, his sword held low and ready. Duo turned to Quatre, who was worrying over Heero's bandaged shoulder.
"Man, what is up with Wufei and Trowa?" Quatre sighed, looking up after the two Pilots that had disappeared upstairs, and winced as a loud thud sounded. Heero raised an eyebrow.
"You know how they sometimes get into fights about justice and truth. Trowa made an off-comment about truth being something only the blind could see, and Wufei blew up. Don't worry," he said, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "They'll work it out in about an hour." Duo laughed and walked into the kitchen, purposely ignoring the sounds coming from upstairs. From what it sounded like, he and Quatre were going to have to go shopping for new furniture, and soon.
Heero watched Duo walk into the kitchen, his gold-tinged braid swinging against his taught pants. He shook his head hard, his eyes hardening, and walked up the stairs, steering away from the direction of the fight and going to his own room in the third hall.
'Baka. He could never want you. What could you give him? You're a ruthless killer.' He shut the door. 'Murderer. Savage. He deserves better in a lover. He and I-we don't belong together. We don't fit.' He sighed heavily, sitting at his desk and flipping open the laptop. It was about time for them to receive the standard reply from Doctor J. The screen lit up, and a message was waiting. One click and it was opened.
The Good Doc:
Good work. Report.
Heero grunted. An efficient reply; short and to the point, wasting nothing. He quickly typed in his report, his statements short and precise. He had just finished when the door opened and Duo bounced in. Heero dared a glance, and almost fell out of his chair in shock. Duo was frowning? He advanced on the suddenly numbed Pilot in the chair, his eyes narrowed. He pointed to the door and said in a no-nonsense tone.
"My room. Now. I'll be there in a bit." Heero got up angrily, ready to deck the younger marvel before him. How dare he speak to him in such a tone! But Duo was ready and shoved him out the door, slamming it before Heero had a chance to react. Hearing the door lock, and seeing there was no other immediate way to get answers from the Shinigami, he stormed down the hallway, past a very startled Quatre, and into Duo's room, slamming the door so hard the room shook. 'All right, what the hell is this about?!' he wanted to yell, but realized it was futile, since the object of his seething anger was not in the same room as he at the moment. But that would change, and then he would know. For now, he contented himself with examining Duo's room. The younger Pilot was obviously not overly concerned with being neat, if the strewn clothes and rumpled bed were anything to attest. He stepped around the shirts and pants that were on the ground, and sat down on the edge of the bed, suddenly very tired for some reason. Well, the ordinary reason would be not having slept for two nights. The first had been a night filled with beatings, weak but effective, his shoulder reminded him. The second was a night spent in a watchful pose of sleeping. He had lain there in bed, listening to every sound the night made, and all senses on alert. It was safe here, he knew, and had he been by himself it might have been different and he might have closed his eyes, but Duo was there. He couldn't let down his guard while Duo slept, could he? He wanted to, and tried several times, but it never worked and he always opened them shortly after. Heero smirked. 'He's a damn good distraction. I wonder if he even knows he's doing it? Probably not.' Not thinking of the consequences such an act might have, Heero lay down on Duo's bed and shut his eyes, breathing in the scent of Duo's hair on his pillow, and promptly fell asleep.
Duo listened to his bedroom door slam, and sighed, sitting at the desk and filling in his report, not bothering to read Heero's. It was painfully obvious who was the better Pilot anyway. Why should he beat his self up? When the boring report was finished, he sent the message and left the laptop running, getting up and walking out of the room. He trembled slightly as he walked down the hall to his room, slowly opening the door and his body tightened in anticipation of possible attack. Nothing happened. He opened it a bit more and stepped inside, then fell against it in shock, causing it to slam shut. Heero bolted awake, blinking in confusion at Duo. 'Heero was sleeping in my bed!' The warmth that stirred in his stomach and chest surprised him, even scared him a little, but Heero's suddenly alert expression told him to explain his actions from earlier. He put on his handsomest smile and skipped into the room, sitting down by Heero and smirking.
"Good afternoon, Sleeping Beauty." Heero grimaced and slapped him lightly on the shoulder.
"Just what did you think you were doing earlier?" He ground out. Duo smiled and sighed.
"All right. Maybe I went a little too far, but that was the only way to get you in here so I could patch your shoulder. You can say anything you want Heero, but that thing needs to be changed." Heero glanced down at his shoulder, and ruefully admitted that Duo just might be right. It was heavily blood stained, and the material was loosened badly. Duo took his silence as an affirmative, and hopped off his bed to retrieve the advanced medical kit under it. In the process, Heero was given a very nice view of the DeathScythe Pilot's rear, and was troubled by the inner stirrings he felt. 'What are you doing?!' his mind screamed at him. Heero ignored it, biting back the feeling of disappointment as Duo sat back down and opened the kit.
"Hold still." He instructed, taking hold of the edge of the bandage and slowly unwinding it. A last piece of cloth caught on the wound, and Heero winced. Duo immediately apologized and delicately extricated the cloth from around the area. The wound was not deep, but it was deep enough. He hadn't been able to get any details out of Heero, but he gathered that the Pilot had fallen and run into something, causing a bruise and open wound covering the back of his shoulder, the skin almost gone and bleeding in some areas. In a few minutes, the wound was cleaned and freshly wrapped in white cloth and tape, the room smelling of disinfectant and sterilized gloves.* Heero shifted uncomfortably and finally stood, heading for the door.
"Thank you."
"No problem, Ro." Duo cracked into a grin as Heero turned to look at him, murder in his eyes. He looked decidedly 'cute' when he was angry. But he was cute all the time, and Duo wasn't willing to take the risk just to study his death glare.
"Duo, Roe is a type of fish bait. Please don't call me that." He turned and walked out of the room, smirking as he heard no reply. Duo, meanwhile, was sitting on his bed.
'I can't take many more of these shocks.' He thought. 'First he says sorry, then my name, and then please.' He hugged himself, remembering when he had last felt those stirrings in his stomach. It had been a crush, but it still hurt when the guy left him without a word. Nothing had happened between them, but they had still had a connection. 'Hang in there, Duo. He might just care enough not to kill you.' He laughed at that, then leapt up and ran out of the room when he heard a loud shriek. He almost ran into Quatre, who was standing next to Heero.
"What's happening?" he asked them. Quatre blushed furiously, while Heero turned and walked away.
"Well, um, Trowa and Wufei made up, and, they're-" Another loud yell cut him off, this time Trowa's. Duo's eyes widened, reading the meaning behind the voice.
"Oh my God, you mean they're..." he left the sentence hanging, implication clear. Quatre nodded, and Duo felt his face flush. He turned and slowly walked away, not trusting his tongue to talk for his dazed brain. He knew Wufei and Trowa were friends, but he had never suspected...well, that! He had to admit that it didn't bother him that much, being gay himself and all, he just didn't- His thoughts were abruptly cut off as he ran into something, something very hard. He rebounded and opened his eyes, rubbing his sore nose and forehead.
"Well, geeze Heero! You could've moved y'know!" Heero didn't give any indication of regret, and just flicked a glance over Duo's shoulder before looking him in the eye.
"What happened?" Duo froze. What was he supposed to say? Heero knew, surely. He fidgeted.
"Uh, well, um, you know, they're..." He suddenly pointed at the ceiling in a dramatic pose. "They're talking, that's what they're doing, talking." Then he turned and ran for dear life, missing the grin that stole across Heero's face.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(*): Perverts. *Smirk *
Well, um, I tried. *Looks at Duo, who is on floor *
Heero: I think you've killed him.
Nah, he'll live. *All turn as Wufei enters room, sword in hand *
Wufei: Onna, you and I will have words.
This onna values life a whole lot more than that. You know you like it, especially that part where you made up with Trowa. *Smirks as Wufei blushes guiltily *
Duo: 0.o I'm gonna die!
You are? *Looks at list * I don't have you down for death, Shinigami.
Duo: Yes you do! You stuck me in a relationship with Heero!
Heero: He does have a point.
Both Duo and Singe: You keep out of this!
Heero: .......Hn.
Okay, this chapter was more or less in Heero and Duo POV, so I'm sorry if it was a bit less action than you like. I tried, I swear I did! If you think it sucks and wish to blast me, then tell me. I promise I won't blow up.
